


Return

by Wesakechak



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Rebuild of Evangelion | Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition
Genre: Gen, Pining, pre second impact
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 06:18:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11434926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wesakechak/pseuds/Wesakechak
Summary: Mari returns to Japan a few years after graduating, and is excited to see how Yui is doing.





	Return

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Xairathan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xairathan/gifts).



> A belated gift for xairathan  
> Happy birthday Teri :)

The sound of a chime over the PA system was what woke Mari from her sleep. She had been dreaming, though what it had been about faded from her mind as she opened her eyes. A voice finished the English announcement and repeated it in Japanese, saying that the plane was on final approach to Haneda airport. There would be family waiting for her, relatives she didn’t really know nor did she want to get to know any more than she already did. And for their part, they only tolerated her because she had the name Makinami. They greeted her warmly, as was expected. Even so, Mari could tell how forced it was. It didn’t matter, because Mari was equally forceful with her own pleasantries towards them.  

There was someone who she wanted to see though. Mari sat outside of her relative’s house, situated on a hill in the suburbs of the city. She watched the twinkling lights of Hakone as they pushed against the darkness, illuminating the sky in gold. Her cellphone was in one hand and she was scrolling through her contacts to the bottom one. Unlike the others, rigorously organized by last name followed by first name, this one was three simple letters. YUI.

She hit the call button, then put the cellphone against her ear. The phone rang three times before Yui picked it up, and Mari could hear the almost syrup-like tiredness in her voice.

“Mari? Do you know how late it is?” Yui mumbled. There was the sound of shuffling on the other end of the phone as Yui moved around. Mari grinned to herself. She had kept her return to Japan hidden from Yui, and Kyouko as well in case she talked to Yui and accidentally spilled the info.

“Why yes, it’s twenty-three hundred hours.” Mari stated, looking down at her watch. “Hakone is looking nice though.”

There was a pause at the other end of the line, and Mari could hear the gears in Yui’s head turn as she figured out what Mari was implying. “Wait. Are you in Japan? Since when?” There was a hint of excitement on Yui’s voice. Mari reached up and twirled a stroke of her hair, letting out a small chuckle.

“Oh, I just got in tonight.” Mari gave a dismissive wave of her hand to no one in particular. “Wanted to tell you and say hi, maybe get caught up?”

“Of course, I’d love to catch up with you. It is pretty late though, so perhaps another time?” Mari felt a small twist in her heart at the words. She knew what they meant, that Yui didn’t really want to talk to her. “Such as at lunch tomorrow at noon? It’ll be on me. We can go to the cafe we usually went to with Kyouko.” Yui suggested. And with that Mari’s heart turned skyward. Mari nodded enthusiastically, she remembered the place, one of the highlights of her university days.

“Sure thing. We can catch up then?” Mari asked her.

“Yes, I can’t wait to hear about what you’ve been doing there. I’ll see you then.” Yui sounded tired, and there was some more shuffling on the other end of the phone. Probably Yui readjusting herself so she could sleep more comfortably, Mari thought.  

“See you. Good night Yui.”

“Yeah, good night Mari.” Yui yawned, and then ended the phone call. Mari let the dial tone ring in her ear for another second before flicking the phone shut and putting it against her heart, smiling. Now all that was left was to wait to see the one she loved. She sighed and got to her feet,

It was a rather quiet cafe, with an outdoor patio, near the university but closer to the edge of the city. The streets were less crowded, and the buildings surrounding it were smaller and spread out more.

Mari arrived a few minutes early, and took a seat at one of the tables. She would wait for Yui to arrive before they ordered. Her fingers drummed restlessly on her thigh as she waited, and she made sure to breathe normally so not as to appear too flustered when Yui arrived. She closed her eyes and began to imagine what it would be like. Yui would be similar, with the same black hair cut into a bob cut. She wouldn’t be wearing her usual labwear that Mari saw as synonymous with Yui, it was the weekend and Yui would be off work. Instead she’d most likely be in some casual get up, designed around being comfortable. Mari would see her walk in, wave her over, and embrace her when she got there. Then they’d sit down and talk. Not about what Mari wanted to talk about, not yet, but just pleasant conversation, the likes of which Mari had not had for a long time.  

A hand being placed on her shoulder snapped her back to reality, and she nearly shot out of her chair, twisting around and looking at whoever had touched her and wanting to complain.

Her complaint died in her throat, replaced by a smile, when she saw it was Yui who was behind her.

“Still spacing out I see.” Yui said teasingly as Mari stood up. Yui stretched her arms out to embrace her gently. Mari returned the hug enthusiastically.

“I missed you too Yui.” She sighed, putting her chin on Yui’s shoulder. There was a grunt from Yui and Mari pulled back, taking in the other woman clearly for the first time in years. She was wearing her lab coat, and the bags under her eyes were an indicator that she had been for the past day at least. Mari broke the embrace and quickly guided Yui to the chair across from where she had been sitting. Yui didn’t sit so much as she collapsed into it, and sighed.

“Should we order something?” Yui asked quietly.

“Yeah, what do you want to get? A tea?”

“No, not tea. Whatever has the most caffeine.” Yui let out a small laugh, and she set her elbows on the table, leaning over it slightly as if it was a struggle to keep her head up.

“Okay, I’ll go and see what there is.” Mari reached out and touched Yui’s arms, a bold move but one she could easily explain away as friendly concern. “You look tired, something keeping you up.”

“Yeah, there is. Been in the lab for the past day now.” Yui muttered, her voice trailing off and eyes losing focus. Then she shook her head and her eyes refocused on Mari. “I’ll tell you later though, there’s about to be a big breakthrough in metabiology.” Yui managed to smile, though Mari could tell it was small and weak. Just from being tired, Mari supposed, and she was curious about what Yui was going to reveal. “For now, I want to go and see how you’ve been doing.” Yui slowly stood up, and Mari joined her as they walked to the counter.

“Coffee, black. Largest size you have. What about you Mari?” Yui asked her, turning towards her and making Mari’s heart skip a beat.

“I’ll, I’ll just have some tea. Got any earl grey?” Mari asked the man behind the counter. The man nodded and turned around, walking over to a hole in the wall with the kitchen on the other side and speaking with someone else. Then he went back to the counter and looked at Yui.

“Just a couple minutes.” He told her.

“Of course, we’ll wait here for it.” Yui told him, stepping aside so that another customer could order. They stayed by the counter, waiting for their order but not talking to the other. Mari hovered around Yui’s shoulder, and Yui was staring ahead and leaning on the counter, occasionally covering her mouth to mask a yawn. The elation at seeing Yui was replaced by a sense of confusion and worry. She had not expected her to be like _this._ Tired and almost completely out of things. And if that had changed, then what else? After a few minutes their drinks were served, and Yui handed Mari her tea. For a brief moment their fingers touched and Mari felt a jolt of electricity run up her arm, almost making her drop her cup. She gripped it tightly and took a step back, then followed Yui back to their seats.

Yui sat down and blew on her coffee to cool it down before taking a sip of it. Then she set it down on the table, resting her elbows on the table and folding her hands under her chin, looking at Mari expectantly.

“How’s the tea?” Yui asked her. Mari stared down at the cup she nursed in her hands, then brought it to her lips and took a small sip, the liquid nearly burning her tongue.

“Scalding. But good.” She commented. “Not as good as the stuff in London though.”

“Oh, is that so?” Yui asked inquisitively.

“Yeah. The Japanese make good green tea, but their blacks aren’t much to write home about.” Mari took another sip. It was a bit cooler than it had been before.

“Ah, I suppose so.” Yui agreed. Then something caught her eyes and she tilted her head slightly. “Are those my old glasses?”

“Yeah, I kept them. Had to get the lenses replaced but the frames are the ones you gave me, they still work.” Mari explained, taking off her glasses again and handing them to Yui. Yui turned them over in her hand, looking at them with a hint of nostalgia on her face, and then returned them to Mari. “Been a big help, thanks for giving them to me.”

“Oh, no problem. I couldn’t have you ruin your eyes by squinting all the time.” Yui dismissed, exaggerating by squinting and leaning forward as if she was having trouble seeing Mari. Mari chuckled and smiled at ease. “So, where are you working now?”

“Working for the UN. Think they pulled a lot of metabiologists together, don’t really know what they have us working on though.” Mari shrugged. She almost threw her hands in the air but remembered the tea that she was still holding.

“The UN, is that so? Same here. Except I _do_ know. At least I know what my branch is working on.” Yui smiled, and took a long sip of her coffee before setting it down on the table again. “So, anyway, about the breakthrough. It’s still theoretical at this point, but we’re close to coming up with a way to allow the transfer a soul between bodies.” Yui explained.

“Really?” Mari’s eyebrows shot up in amazement. “That’s big. And the implications that come with it. I mean, proving once and for all there is a soul separate from the physical body. Being able to cheat death if you have a viable clone that will take the soul. You could even stop yourself from aging if you could rapidly grow clones to a specific age.” Mari gasped, her mind running through the implications. That was big indeed. And of course it would be Yui coming up with it, one of the brightest

“Oh, it’s so good to finally be able to talk to someone who understands what this means.” Yui let out a laugh, and took a sip of her coffee. “This all flies over Gendo’s head.”

“Gendo, as in Gendo Ikari?” Mari shook her head in disbelief.

“Yes, I’m working with him on the project. He’s very intelligent, but he doesn’t think about the implications.” Yui explained, taking another sip of her coffee and smiling.

“Intelligent? I thought we agreed to call him a smarmy know-it-all.” Mari grinned. Yui rolled her eyes and another little laugh passed her lips.

“We did, didn’t we. Well, better not call it to his face, he’s actually a lot kinder than he lets on.”

“And how do you know that?” Mari asked, a bit quicker and more forceful than she intended. She could already guess, but she hoped she was wrong. The desperation seemed to get past Yui thought, who simply shrugged.

“We’ve been dating for a few months now. He asked me out for dinner one night and I was genuinely surprised at how nice he is behind that cold exterior.” She reflected. Mari instantly felt sick, her stomach twisting and her head suddenly pounding. She covered up the tears that threatened to spring from her eyes by pretending to clean her glasses nonchalantly.

“You have? That’s good to hear.” She said as she slid her glasses back on. She looked slightly over Yui’s shoulder, not wanting to focus on her face and the smile on it. .

“It is. We haven’t moved in yet but he usually comes for walks with me and Professor Fuyutsuki. I don’t think he likes them much, and he and Fuyutsuki can hardly stand each other, but he wants to go on them to be around me. Isn’t that sweet?”

“Yeah, it is.” Mari’s mouth tasted dry, and she took another sip of her tea.

“Have you found anyone for you?” Yui asked. It felt like she had twisted a knife in Mari’s heart, but she inhaled to keep her composure. She couldn’t say that she had been avoiding looking for people in the hopes of being with Yui.

“No, I haven’t managed to.” She lied. Yui patted her on the shoulder sympathetically.

“I’m sure you’ll find a good enough woman.” She consoled. Mari looked at her, wanting to tell her that was what she was.

“Yeah, I’m sure I will.” Mari could only mutter it. Then she coughed, regaining her voice and pushing the phlegm out. “That reminds me, Kyouko hooked up with some American. Some air force pilot, name’s Langley.” Now it was Yui’s turn to look a bit surprised, but she tilted her head to the side.

“We haven’t spoken in a while, both of have been too busy to coordinate and talk. I’m glad to hear she’s started, she was convinced she’d be a spinster for life. If you talk to her soon tell her congratulations.” Yui asked her. Mari nodded, though it was more of an automatic response than an agreement. Her mind was still reeling over the revelation that Yui was with Gendo now.

Something must have shown up on her face though, because Yui tilted her head curiously and stared at her.

“You look like something’s troubling you. Or else you’re very tired.”

“Oh, it’s just… just the jetlag.” Mari faked a yawn, looking away from Yui. There was a supportive hand on her shoulder and Mari looked back to see Yui giving her a worried smile.

“Well, I shouldn’t keep you up any longer. You should get some rest in, I need to go back to work anyway. Gendo should be here to pick me up any minute.” Yui smiled. Mari nodded, again automatically. “We can meet up again another time. I’m sure I barely scratched the surface with what you’ve been doing these past few years.” She offered. Once more, Mari nodded absently.

Yui hadn’t even suspected, Mari realized. Never suspected that she had feelings. Yui got up and walked away, and Mari watched her enter a car. She caught a glimpse of Gendo Ikari, who smiled when he saw Yui, and after a short while offered Mari a raised hand in acknowledgement before they drove away back to the lab. Mari finished her tea a few minutes later, then stumbled in a daze out of the cafe and back to her family’s house.

When Mari got back to the room her family had given her to stay in, she sunk onto the bed and curled up into a ball. She had agreed to her parents request to see Yui. Now even thinking about her hurt. She would be staying for a month, and she knew it would be the longest month she would ever face. She tossed her glasses aside, though still making sure that they stayed on the bed, and grabbed a pillow, hugging it with all her might and pressing her face against it to muffle the sobs that came.


End file.
